"Handy Kid" - The Ultimate Building Kit for Kids

I created this building kit for my four-year-old daughter, who wanted to know how things hold together. It started as a bunch of big screws, nuts, and a few plates with whole and, over time, developed into a full building kit. At this point, the building set also includes wheels and gears and a rotor that can be launched using a hand crank and gears in the set (in a very inefficient way). We had a lot of fun with it, so I decided to share it in case some other people like it as well. 
 

The basics of the building set are pretty self-explanatory. However, if you decide to build something with fast-spinning gears (e.g., see the video), there are a few things to consider. 

a) The basic plates are somewhat flexible. To stabilize gears, it's helpful to sandwich them between plates, limiting lateral movement.

b) When pairing 50-tooth and 17-tooth gears, M10 X 12 screws may cause slight interference. Using M10 X 10.5 screws on one or both gears can resolve this.

c) The rods for gears may have some play in the plate holes. Using the included rod stabilizer part significantly enhances stability.

I successfully printed all models on an MK4 printer without support, using either 0.15 or 0.20 mm layers.

While all pieces are large and blunt to ensure safety for children, always exercise caution with younger kids to mitigate choking hazards.

If you build something with this set that you would like to share, send me a message, and perhaps I can share it here :) The same is true if you create instructions for such a build.  
 

The screws by Jerryie were altered to fit a blunt screwdriver I created as a safer variant for kids. I have modified gears by Adam to fit the building set. I have also modified the toroidal rotor by Meister Edel in a way that allows it to launch it (with a bit of effort) by rotating gears in the set. Other models in the set are my own.